Shou Sugi Ban binds Art and Architecture in Spectral Bridge House

A unique collaboration between EYRC Architects and an internationally known artist, this house could be called “a vessel for living and art.” The artist Johannes Girardoni created site-specific projects that explore connections between art, design, technology, and architecture. For this site, a narrow lot in an eclectic urban neighborhood about a mile from Venice beach, he wanted to build a home that would also be an immersive art experience.

Ehrlich, Yanai and Girardoni collaborated to integrate art and architecture by creating three two-story living blocks. Sensitively scaled to surrounding houses, these monolithic shapes are disrupted by irregular angles and rotated axes. The upper level is rendered in smooth white stucco while the lower level is clad in charred black shou sugi ban, a technique from eighteenth-century Japan. Lined up in a row, the living areas open to discrete outdoor spaces on both the ground and upper floors, forming multiple decks, gardens, and a pool court. A roof deck above the central volume provides another layer of outdoor space and views out over the neighborhood.

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The three structures are connected by the artwork Spectral Bridge, which links the first two buildings by a bridge within a glass atrium, and the rear two structures by an exterior bridge. In between the bridges is an “art lounge” for immersion in colored light and sound baths. Spectral Bridge runs on a program timed to the sunset and sunrise, shifting through color sequences based on a year-long evolution of the spectrum. Family and visitors experience it from the inside as a series of spaces defined by lines of light, volumes of color, and ambient sound. Viewed from the outside, the bridge reads as a glowing physical volume, a light sculpture that unifies the architecture.